August 31, 2010

For
$8, this wine is an absurd value. For its regular list price of $12,
it's still very, very good.

I picked it up on
sale at our local store when oppressive summer heat staged an encore. It
turned out to be an excellent match for our food and the weather. I
tend to think wine and weather is overly discussed, but I'm fully on
board with rose in summer.

And for all of the
wonderful rose made in NY state these days, it's nice to have that
reference point of what the best rose producing region in the world is
doing. This one brought perhaps a bit less of the classic Provencal
floral aromatics, and instead delivered glazed melon, but who can argue?
It was crisp,
refreshing, and deftly made. A true steal, a wonderful QPR.

Julia Burke: Selento Rosso, Masserie Pisari 2007

I attended a tasting of Michael Skurnik wines recently, the highlight of which was the Italian table. There was more character and value among the ten or twelve Italians I tasted than anywhere else in the room.

Particularly interesting was this Negroamaro, a unique and oh-so-Italian example in the $15 price range.

I've had some damn good Negroamaro lately, and this one continued the winning streak.

The nose showed yummy tar, definite notes of clove spice, and dark fruit which exploded into a palate of juicy middle-of-summer blackberries. I loved this wine for its genuine personality and for how much it made me want to spend two hours in the kitchen cooking a meal to pair.

Saturday night, I joined -- virtually, via Twitter -- some folks in tasting these three just-released zinfandel-centered wines.

For a cool-climate wine enthusiast with a palate more used to ABV topping out at 13% or so, it took me a few sips of each -- these were 14.4%, 14.9% and 15% respectively -- to get used to the size here, but once I did, I was surprised by the balance and relative elegance these showed.

These aren't you're simple, juicy $12 zinfandels. Not by a long shot.

The Lytton Springs showed the most high-toned fruit of the lot with a floral quality and surprising acidity. Ultimately, it seemed a bit thin, but only because of the two monsters next to it.

The Pagani Ranch was definitely the most approachable of the three, with intense, lush fruit, better integrated structure and beautiful spice. This was my preferred wine on days 1 and 3 of tasting them.

The York Creek was just a monster. On the day of the tasting it was incredibly dense with dark, brooding fruit and a savory, umami side to it that intrigued. It wasn't giving much up though. By day two, it had uncrossed its arms, pushing forward more of the fruit while retaining that savoriness. My favorite on day 2, it fell apart on day 3 however.

Bryan Calandrelli: Szóke Mátyás Cabernet 2002

Once again I was in the right place at the right time to try something special.

This bottle of Hungarian wine was brought over by hand from a woman that stopped in the winery last weekend. Without one word of English on the label it wasn’t easy to get background info on it but what I could deduce after some wine encyclopedia snooping was that it was from the region of Mátraaja and the area of Gyongyostarján.

Revealing a beautiful brick garnet color in the glass this wine showed mature aromas of dried cherry, strawberry preserves, nutmeg, tobacco and cinnamon. On the palate it was perfectly balanced with good acid, great flesh and fine tannins.

I got an Italian vibe from this wine overall. I gathered it was a Cab Franc/Sauvignon blend after some deliberation.

My sommelier friend described it as Bordeaulean leaving us to agree that it had old world qualities that put it in good company. It was a fun wine to try in the middle of a workday and the story behind it made me want to go to Hungary.

David Flaherty: Hanssens Artisanaal, Oude Gueuze, Belgium

Lambics are some of the strangest beverages on the planet Earth. If there is terroir in beer, this is it.

This last week, I visited my brother in Seatlle. In preparation
for our camping trip to Mt. Rainier, we attacked the local craft beer
storm like the Vikings stormed a village. (View the complete list of
our booty here: http://bit.ly/arxPSj)

I was shocked to hear he wasn't familiar with lambics or other
"sour" beers, for that matter. It was time to take him to beer school.
Lambics hail from the Pajottenland region of Belgium and, in contrast
to other breweries, they celebrate their local bacteria like royalty. Spontaneously fermented in large open vats, the brewers use ambient
yeasts present in the air which give a unique quality specific to their
immediate surroundings.

With slightly funky notes of apple cider vinegar on the nose, what
follows is nothing short of a death-defying roller coaster ride. A
bracing acidity grabs a hold of your tongue and torques your mouth into a
joyful bear hug. Dry as a bone and stridently complex, this Gueuze
(a blend of 1-3 year old Lambics) is a standard-bearer.

The beautiful thing? Hanssens has been making them this way since
1896. I love a good antique.

August 30, 2010

By any measure, the 2010 growing season has been an outstanding one for Long Island grape growers.

Across the island, I'm hearing reports from vineyard folks saying that the grapes are anywhere from 10-20 days ahead of schedule.

They're further ahead than in 2007, often lauded as the region's best ever vintage.

In 2010, it's been about more than just hot days -- cloud cover and the UV rays they can filter have made an impact too.

Rich Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Bedell Cellars, told me a few weeks ago "Not only have we been hot and sunny, but the sunny days are clear with a low percentage of cloud cover."

Increased UV exposure -- coupled with leaf removal from the fruit zone -- means lower levels of methoxypyrazines. Those are the compounds that can give red wines underripe, bell pepper aromas and flavors.

Increased UV can also lead to more TDN in riesling too -- think petrol character -- but riesling isn't a big player on Long Island.

To illustrate how big an impact UV can have: 2003 -- anything but a classic vintage on Long Island -- was a very warm one too, according to Olsen-Harbich but there were fewer than 30 "clear days" all season. The vintage suffered and several underripe reds made their way to store shelves.

Despite the great weather we've been enjoying, local growers and winemakers are watching the weather closely this week -- not to keep an eye on cloud cover or even temperatures (which are expected to remain in the 90s). Instead, they'll be keeping an eye on Hurricane Earl, which has a predicted path up the eastern seaboard and over the East End of Long Island.

"The effects a H -- I can't get myself to say the word --
can have on a vineyard depends on the severity of the 'hit,' the amount of rain that comes with it, and the speed it is traveling," says Rich Pisacano, vineyard manager at Wolffer Estate and co-owner of Roanoke Vineyards, adding "A direct hit can lay down an entire vineyard by snapping poles at the ground, send bird
netting into the next town and of course destroy the crop."

Such devastating damage would require a lot of time and money to remedy, rendering "a complete crop loss the least of the problem" according to Pisacano.

Unfortunately, hurricanes aren't anything new for local grape growers. Powerful named storms have damaged vineyards past, most recently in 1985 and 1991.

"In 1985, when the eye of Hurricane Gloria was over Nassau County," Charles Massoud, co-owner of Paumanok Vineyards remembers, "the
northeast quadrant of the storm was largely a wind event. It broke lots
of trees but it brought lots of spray from the ocean. The salt from the
spray dessicated the leaves and after three days the vineyard was
essentially dead."

Luckily, the Massouds had already picked and sold their chardonnay before the storm hit.

Hurricane Bob, which passed just east of Montauk in 1991, was largely a rain event with strong wind. Massoud told me in an email "That
bruised the fruit as though the clusters were sanded. That was at the
end of August. Those of us who were quick at treating for botrytis
salvaged a decent vintage in spite of the trellis damage from wind. The
bruising developed scabs that increased the phenolics and required
careful treatment at winemaking time."

Luckily, there was plenty of rain to wash away any salt from ocean spray that year.

These types of events are why you can't christen a vintage "the best ever" until the
grapes are into the winery.

There is little doubt that local farmers have the Weather Channel on their televisions today and will all week. That's all they can do though -- watch, wait and hope.

NYCR: What are the primary challenges of organic viticulture in regions like Long Island?

AW: The goal is economically viable yields of high quality fruit – no matter what the management philosophy. Beyond that, growing season rainfall and morning dew favor fungal diseases such as black rot, phomopsis and downy mildew. The only National Organic Program (NOP)-allowed fungicide that provides significant control of downy mildew is copper, but no NOP-allowed material provides very good of control of black rot and phomopsis. Powdery mildew, on the other hand, is quite readily controlled by sulfur and mineral oil, both NOP-allowed.

NYCR: What are some ways to maintain nitrogen content in organic soil?

AW: Leguminous cover crops, though they must be tilled in for maximum benefit. There are organic nitrogen fertilizers such as peanut meal and others. They tend to be pretty expensive. For sandy soils, compost and/or composted manure helps with nutrition as well as nutrient retention. Realize that grapevines, at least vinifera on Long Island, do not need a lot of nitrogen so to me this is not one of the pivotal points of organic practice.

AW: The term organic is legally defined as it pertains to pesticide use. The NOP should have good information. Or go to http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/organics.htm.
The effective materials allowed for use by the NOP are all used by non-organic growers to one degree or another, particularly sulfur and mineral oil.

The exception might be copper. Some growers won’t use copper, or limit its use, because it has a 2,600 day soil half-life and permanently builds up in the soil to toxic levels with continuous use. This has not been an issue here but is an issue in more established winegrowing regions.

NYCR: Are conventional herbicides/pesticides really that bad for the soil?

AW: Anything that is done to soil potentially alters the structure and the biology – herbicides, cultivation, cover crops, they all have impacts. Regarding the impact of herbicides, I have read/heard discussions with arguments on both sides. One measure of potential impact (or lack thereof) of herbicides on the soil is their soil half-life*. A relatively low half-life means soil microorganisms consume the material and transform it to CO2 and H2O pretty quickly. Many modern herbicides have low leaching potential and short half-lives and are not considered “bad” for the soil. My opinion is that there is no perfect method to manage vegetation under the trellis, each option has advantages and disadvantages.

*Note: A word about half-life: Most processes are best assumed to occur in a first-order way. That is, things will undergo exponential decay. The term "half-life" is a function of the time constant of this decay. More simply, half-life is the amount of time it will take for half of the material of interest to degrade. After two half-lives, 25% (1/4) of the original material will remain. After 3, 12.5% (1/8), and so on. -tjm

NYCR: Copper is allowed in organic viticulture but – as you said – a common complaint is that it builds up in the soil. Are there any more eco-friendly copper alternatives at this time? Is copper buildup in soil as bad as some would claim?

AW: Copper use is limited and/or banned in some regions of Europe due to accumulation in the soil. Any soil copper level over 100 mg/kg is considered toxic and levels in French, Italian, Australian and New Zealand vineyard soils are not uncommonly found at 200, 300, 400+ mg/kg where copper has been used for decades. High soil levels of copper inhibit plant growth, impair soil microbial life, and drive out earthworms*. ‘Eco-friendly’ is not a legally defined term so I can’t comment on that. There are hydrocarbon-based, reduced risk options (for reduced risk definition, see http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/reducing.htm) for control of downy mildew but to my knowledge the only effective organic option is copper. Remember that both the active ingredient and inert ingredients must be approved by the NOP. Consequently, not all formulations of copper are organically approved. This holds true for other materials as well.

*Note: Earthworms are important to soils for many reasons, including their burrowing behavior, which increases soil drainage, and repeated turnover of the upper soil layer. Exposure to copper in earthworms at low levels can have detrimental effects on burrowing activity and at higher levels can be toxic to worms. Pictured right: Copper sulfate powder. -tjm

NYCR: You are running a trial on organic viticulture at LIHREC. Can you share any preliminary results?

AW: We are running the trial on chardonnay, probably the most difficult candidate for organic management. Overall, we have had difficulty with black rot, phomopsis and downy mildew in organic plots. Cluster rots have been problematic as well.

However, we have harvested fruit every year, though yields have been reduced. Vine size has suffered as well and we’re not quite sure why. Our current thinking is that it is due to cumulative stress rather than any one factor. We ended up using a conventional nitrogen fertilizer this year just because vine size was declining so much. It definitely helped.

NYCR: I assume leaf removal is essential for disease control in an organic regimen. What are your thoughts on the Long Island cultural practice of 100% leaf removal from the fruiting zone vis-à-vis disease control and fruit development?

AW: The issue of timing and severity of leaf removal is not specifically related to organic viticulture. Leaf removal in the cluster zone is done for both quality and pest management reasons for VSP trained vines. The more extreme version of leaf removal is done, as I am told by vineyard managers who do it, so that only one pass has to be made rather than repeated passes to maintain adequate air flow and light penetration. Some feel ‘leaf stripping’ of the cluster zone has quality benefits as well and I have seen some data to that effect. I have also seen fruit with sunburn – we did a version of leaf stripping this spring and ended up with a lot of sunburn on exposed clusters on the west side of the trellis. Whether the fruit is riper, we’ll find out at harvest.

NYCR: How does the cost of organic farming compare to conventional methods?

AW: As organic vinifera is not common in the eastern U.S., a standard set of practices has not really been recognized. So much depends on which pesticides and fertilizers are used as costs vary considerably. Often organic management involves an increase in labor. However, there is just not any solid information on costs. The version of organic that we used in our trial was more expensive than conventional methods but we only evaluated spray materials. I would guess there might be data from the west coast where there are many organic vineyards. But it would not be completely relevant to Long Island as the viticulture is so different.

NYCR: Have you tested any of the biodynamic preparations (e.g., horn manure, horn silica, compost treated with yarrow, valerian, dandelion, etc.) in your vineyard? Why or why not? Did you discover anything?

AW: No, nor will you find any true replicated studies with these preparations. In science, we have to reduce potential variability in treatments as much as possible. To my knowledge, there are no legal standards for producing these materials, hence variability in product might account for treatment differences. Some may even fall into a legal gray area as well since any product applied for control of a pest must have EPA and NYSDEC approval.

Regardless, since biodynamics involves a degree of faith or mysticism or whatever you want to call it, this does not lend itself to rigorous scientific evaluation. It may be interesting, but it would be hard to do a valid scientific study. And as biodynamics is a systematic approach, it might not make sense anyway to evaluate individual components. There was a west coast study that looked at conventional vs. organic vs. biodynamic over several years. It is summarized in the ASEV journal. I think it was done in WA and CA.

Note: One of the studies referred to can be found here and here. We'll be addressing the results of these studies in a later post.

So it seems like downy mildew is a real bugbear. For those growers who want to avoid using copper, there is an alternative known as phosphites. Phosphites have been shown to be effective against downy mildew, but the fungus can develop resistance to this chemical.

This brings up an interesting question. As was discussed in the comments section of part 1 of this series, sulfur, copper, hydrogen peroxide and mineral oil are "okay" to use in certified organic viticulture, but they are synthetic chemicals. Phosphite salts seem to be in the same vein.

What differentiates a fungicide like Captan from Phosphites? Both are made in synthetic chemical processes. Both have relatively short half-lives in soil. Is it their overall toxicity? Captan can be toxic to freshwater fish but Fosetyl-Al, a commercial phosphite preparation, can also be toxic to mussels. Both have been evaluated by the EPA and "can be used without causing unreasonable adverse effects in people or the environment."

If "organic" includes synthetic products, then where do we draw the line on synthetic? Or should we?

I credit our science editor, Tom Mansell, for putting me firmly in
a barleywine-craving mood with his What We Drank this week.

The powerful,
intense style is gloriously complex and balanced when done right, and the
perfect answer to a long day or week as it reduces the world and all its
problems to the need for a nice cigar and bed.

Druid Fluid from Middle Ages Brewing Company pours a light one-finger head and
orange-amber hue into a snifter glass, where it maintains light lacing.

The
nose is vague orange flavors and a hint of cream puffs but mostly the understated
malt character of a relatively aged beer.

There's no bottling date on this bottle
(ordinarily a red flag), but barleywines are traditionally crafted for
cellaring and Middle Ages specifically suggests aging this beer, so I
proceeded.

On the palate there’s the sweet alcohol
typical of the style, some orange peel and a razor’s edge of harsh hops, but
that’s as far as it gets before a thin and resiny hop finish.

At
traditional barleywine temperature (50-60 degrees F) it tastes tired; cooler
than that it gets a boost from spotlighted carbonation but little
additional flavor. Though air time opened up just a bit more fruit esters, this
was ultimately more of a chore to drink than a contemplative indulgence.

The true barleywine ages with grace, losing
bright fresh notes but acquiring complexity, and without a bottling date to
give me any sense of the age of this beer I have to be concerned. This is
what’s on the shelves in my town, and it’s not indicative of the power and
beauty of the style. Brewers: date your bottles!

August 26, 2010

The Long Island Merlot Alliance (LIMA) was formed in 2005 with the goal of
developing quality standards in the production of Long
Island merlot and to establish Long Island as the leading region for
merlot in the New World.

To date, the going has been slow with that mission. Though I know the group has done extensive research and analysis, little of it has been published or shared publicly.

Still, the group has released several vintages of Merliance, a cooperative, 100%-merlot wine made using two barrels from each member winery.

It's an interesting -- and challenging -- concept for a still-young organization because, as membership increases, it's bound to become more difficult to craft an integrated, singular wine from all of those various barrels of wine grown and made at different wineries using a diverse array of vineyard and cellar practices.

Long Island Merlot Alliance 2007 Merliance ($35) shows the power an intensity of the vintage certainly, but was released perhaps too early.

On the palate, it balances power with grace -- like the best Long Island merlots often do -- but still shows a bit too much oak. A ripe, intense core of dark fruit lurks beneath the oak with vanilla, licorice, rosemary and a little graphite accents.

The finish is long with a woodsy herbal note and cedar character... and just a little heat.

While deserving of a re-taste in 6-12 months, the oak is just a little too prominent right now for my tastes.

It's still summer and this month's New York Cork Club selections reflect my still-strong preference for white wines this time year. They are Lieb Family Cellars 2008 Pinot Blanc and Red Tail Ridge Winery 2008 Dry Riesling.

If you haven't herad of the New York Cork Club (NYCC), it's pretty simple. We've partnered with BacchusWineOnline.com to create a
wine club that features only wines made in New York -- making them more
accessible to people around the country.

We can't ship to every state,
shipping laws being what they are today, but we can ship to a lot of
them.

Lieb's pinot blanc has long been a local favorite. Pinot blanc can sometimes be a bit boring, but not so here where fresh pear and apple
aromas reach up out of the glass and get your attention with a little
melon, wild flower and subtle nutty character. Fresh, snappy
acidity lifts Gala apple and more pear flavors on a medium-bodied
palate, with nuances of honey and nuts lurking in the background. The
finish lingers nicely with a saline note and a squirt of citrus --
making it both thirst quenching and appetite whetting. This is a wine
that local seafood longs for.

2008 rieslings from the Finger Lakes have been wowing me all summer during my weekly tastings, and this one stood out amongst an impressive group of dry versions. It features a citrusy nose of lime and sweet grapefruit with obvious
flinty slate character, and subtle floral and sweet herb notes.

Extremely
focused and zesty on the palate, green apple, lime and lemon peel
flavors are framed and energized by electric acidity. The finish is long
with trailing slate flavors that linger along with more citrus and
sweet herb.

It was almost a year ago that I wrote about Empire Red, a new wine from Hudson-Chatham Winery that combines the key three red grapes -- baco noir, merlot and cabernet franc -- from each of New York's largest wine regions, the Hudson Valley, Long Island and Finger Lakes respectively.

Made with 33% seyval blanc from the Hudson Valley, 33% riesling from White Spring Winery on Seneca Lake and 33% sauvignon blanc from Long Island, it brings together the signature white varieties of the regions.

Fresh and fruity, the nose shows the full range of citrus -- lemon, lime and grapefruit -- with a little honey, hay and understated herbaceous notes.

Easy drinking and citrusy (again) the palate is dominated by white grapefruit right out of the refrigerator, with faint hints of herbs. As it warms a bit, subtle peach character emerges just a bit. Good-not-great acidity leads into an abrupt finish, where that hay-honey combination peeks through again.

The riesling is a bit buried on the palate -- but I guess you'd expect that with a bold grape like sauvignon blanc in the mix.

Much like the Empire Red, I think the concept of the wine is outstanding but I think with the white, it's difficult to blend riesling without losing much of it's true character. This seems more like a sauvignon-seyval blend in that regard.

August 25, 2010

We wanted to open
something special with a friend on a recent visit, and we're fortunate
to have a local source for excellently stored aged Bordeaux.

The
most fascinating aspect came in wondering whether a wine of this
profile will ever be made again. That's because 1975 was, as I
understand it, a vintage that produced hard and severe tannins, and the
top wines were oppressive in their youth. These days, even the top wines
around the world are carefully managed to offer an opportunity to drink
young. Yes, tannins can be burly in many reds, but 1975 seems to have
been a more austere and wild time in winemaking. Flying consultants
didn't dominate the industry.

Now, 35 years
later, the wine
that was a tannic wall has evolved into something texturally, well,
gripping. It was a glossy beauty in the mouth until the finish settled
and laid down a strong grip. But with age, that grip has become almost
seamless, serving as an anchor for the wine's showing in the mouth.

It
was very cool stuff. Now we're back to our bargain hunting, but this
was a worthwhile dalliance with the best.

Tom Mansell: Cambridge Brewing Company Arquebus "Summer Barleywine"

Nestled among the biotech firms in Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA is a huge beer geek den known as Cambridge
Brewing Co. I went on a recommendation from our own Bryan Calandrelli, who unsurprisingly nailed this reco. They serve about a half dozen house beers, with a long list of seasonals as well.

Many of the seasonals were outstanding including a floral heather ale and a spicy rye IPA.

The one that impressed me most, though was the one I saved for dessert: their Arquebus "Summer Barleywine."

This is the most vinous beer I have ever had. It's right up there in complexity, and finish with Russian River's line of strong sour beers. Aged in French oak barrels for a year and served still, it explodes with white grape, pineapple upside down cake, and stone fruit -- we're talking fruity esters out the wazoo.

A hint of toasty oak and balanced acidity on the palate give way to a long, cinnamon spice finish makes this unique beer a genuine pleasure in every last drop.

At 14% it's a bit alcoholic, but I ended up savoring it as I would a port or sherry.

If you're in Boston, you've gotta find this place and try this beer. Flights are just $2/sample (i.e., a steal).

Ah, to drink white Burgundy everyday. Ah, to finish each meal with
a fine Cognac. Ah, to be rich and wealthy.

Well, considering I'm neither rich nor wealthy (except in heart and
soul...on good days, at least), I will take my forays into the fine
wines of the world where I can. The beautiful thing is, if you look
just in the shadows of some of the great regions, you can find
greatness.

I humbly present: Rully. A village in the Côte Chalonnaise located in Burgundy (just south of the great
vineyards of the Côte de Beaune),
Rully boasts Premier Cru status for 1/6 of its vineyards. Its terroir,
its history and its style of white wines are very close in profile to
the creme de la creme further north.

The Rully La Chaume is spectacular and will set you back under
$20. But it is a ticket to behind the mystique and altar of white
Burgundy. If you've ever wondered what the fuss was about but were
priced out, this is your chance. It's sort of like taking the trip to
the casinos of Monte Carlo at the price of a trip to Foxwoods.

On the nose, a mesmerizing blend of aromas tantalize you closer
while only hinting at the full spectrum to come on the palate. Notes of
nuttiness, lemons and buttery apples greet your mouth seductively as
a refreshing backbone of acid wipes your mouth clear.

But oh that
finish. It may not have the days-long finish of a Meursault or a
Puligny-Montrachet, but the Rully doesn't let up quickly.

I sunk into
the couch like Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. It's that good.

One of the things I look forward to the most during the in spring
and summer months is the abundance
of fresh chevre that is available.The
bright and creamy texture coupled with basil, heirloom tomatoes, and a grind of
fresh black pepper… it doesn’t get much better than that in my book.

Conversely, there is a part of me that is always a little sad as we move into late
fall and winter, the goats move into the barn, and that fantastic cheese is
taken away for another year.

Goats
generally mate during the September and October months, and give birth to kids
through April.Although the first few
months of milk go to the kids, mothers can usually continue producing milk for
the next six months, resulting in a somewhat finite period of time
during which chevre and other goat’s milk cheese to be made.

Fresh chevre is essentially the ultimate
expression for seasonality in the cheese world.One of the finest examples of this is right on Long
Island at Catapano Dairy Farm.

Located on the North Fork of Long Island, Catapano Dairy
Farm has been making headlines since 2005 ever since their cheese won 1st
place for chevre from the American
Cheese Society, considered
the most prestigious cheese competition in the country.

I was first introduced to the cheese a few years ago when my
wife and I first started coming down to visit Lenn and Nena on Long Island.It
was a revelation then, and continues to be the benchmark that I strive for
every time I make fresh chevre at home.T

he
cheese has an incredibly moist and creamy texture with a slight scent of grass
and flowers that you immediately
associate with freshness and quality.What I like about this chevre is that it isn’t overwhelmingly "goaty."What I mean
by that is some goat’s milk cheeses
can be so acidic and tangy on the backend that it can overwhelm some people to where they will swear off any cheese
made with goat’s milk.The Catapano is
incredibly mild and smooth with just a hint of the brightness on the end, and
has converted several goat cheese haters into Catapano lovers.

Put it on a cracker, put it in a salad, put
it on a spoon…it’s that good…

As I sit and write this on a cool day near the end of summer, I am reminded once again that the spring and
summer months are fleeting.Fresh chevre is only going to be made
available for a little longer.Take
advantage of it while you can.Catapano
is a good place to start.

Peconic Bay Winery's new solar panels aren't the first in wine country, but they are among the largest.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon, the winery will unveil a solar electric generating photovoltaic (PV) system that will produce approximately 47,826 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually saving the winery $8,895 in annual electricity costs at today’s rates.

The 180-panel PV system cost $327,760, but Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), through its Solar Entrepreneur Program, provided a significant rebate of $97,830 which helped to reduce the out-of-pocket expense for the system. Peconic Bay Winery may also be able to further reduce the cost of the system via Federal and State tax incentives.

Jim Silver, the winery's general manager (and frequent visitor to this site) said that the winery "Intend(s) to offset more than 70% of our energy needs with this new equipment," adding that "Cutchogue
is the sunniest
spot in all of New York State. That not only makes for outstanding
grape-growing conditions, but makes solar collection a natural and obvious choice."

Congratulations to owners Paul and Ursula Lowerre, to Jim Silver and the entire gang at Peconic Bay.

The owners of Peconic Bay Winery, Paul and Ursula Lowerre, are wholeheartedly committed to reducing non-renewable energy usage at the winery. They believe saving energy and protecting the environment shows sensible stewardship of this beautiful land. .”

We did not arrive at this position without much thought and
discussion. Ultimately, we believe that transparency and clarity are
core values that should permeate the wine world -- from the creation of
wine, to the marketing of wine, to the writing about wine.

Everything
that happens in those areas should relate in some way to answering this
question: Is this providing more transparency and clarity to the
consumer, or less?

We have decided that medal-focused
competitions provide less clarity and transparency to the wine consumer.
We feel that medals only confuse consumers instead of educating them, and that they provide little real value.

Our
position going forward will be simple: The editors and writers at the
New York Cork Report will not accept invitations to judge wines at
large-scale, blind-tasting events with the goal to hand out "medals" to
"winning" wineries.

We want to explain, and --
this is vitally important -- we mean no disrespect.

The vast, vast
majority of competition creators, organizers and judges perform their
roles with the best of intentions. Often, we find that the wines we
think are best are the ones that win top honors. Anthony Road
Wine Company's 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling winning the Governor's Cup is one
example).

But that cannot and does not change the reality: There are so many medal-awarding competitions
that the events have lost any sense of meaning to the average consumer,
and even wine-loving consumers can't possibly know the significance of a
single bronze or silver or gold medal awarded at the many, many events.
Furthermore, the very act of blind judging a wide range of wines should
be viewed as a parlor game and not some
official declaration of merit.

Good
intentions give way to nebulous marketing

We
can't stress this enough: The organizers of wine
competitions are people who constantly impress us with their enthusiasm
and event planning. Collectively, we have judged at many events and have been invited to judge at many more. We admire the goal of
wading through oceans of wine to sort out the very best for consumers.

The
problems with judging will be addressed below.

Even
the medal winners can't explain much about the meaning of such an
award. Evan recently stopped by a Finger Lakes tasting room that was
drowning in medals. He was told, "Our 2006 Merlot won Silver at the So-and-So Wine
Competition!" He asked the staff to explain what that meant. "Well, it
probably means that the judges liked our wine very much!" they replied. He asked who the judges were. They didn't know. He asked how many wines, by
percentage, got at
least a silver medal. "Oh, I don't think it's very many," came one
reply.

Sadly, that's wrong, by almost any measure.

On Long Island, Lenn has been similarly regaled by tasting room staffers with stories of medals awarded -- often incorrectly. He's up on some of these things, so he often knows that they are wrong when they tell him that their riesling won gold but it actually won bronze. The average person off the street can't possibly know; there are too many medals from too many competitions. Ultimately these medals and discussions of them have become nothing more than white noise, like static on your television.

Medals have almost no
defined meaning that the wineries themselves can even explain, let alone
their consumers. Ask a consumer what a medal means -- really, grab a
customer in a tasting room -- and there's almost no chance they'll be
able to offer anything close to an answer describing where it comes from
and why the judges awarded it.

It seems that
wineries simply hope the use of medals will make their bottles more
attractive. We understand the impulse. The business of wine is a competitive one, and
discretionary dollars are being held tightly. But ultimately a state
that is attempting to attain world-class status does itself a disservice
with an over-reliance on meaningless handouts.

We
can promise that almost every
tasting room customer would be shocked to find out that often the
standard for getting at least a bronze medal is simply to create a wine
that is not mortally flawed. That's it. That's the baseline.

The
first problem with judging: Subjectivity

At
Evan's first wine judging competition, a huge annual event that we won't
name, he remembers a debate over a flight of pinot noir. One judge refused
to award a particular wine a gold medal because, in his words, "There is
plenty of fruit but not nearly enough supporting oak." Evan, understandably, was stunned. A
judge demanding more oak? What next?

He didn't have to wait long to find out. During the next flight, a judge detected a whiff of Brettanomyces in
one of the wines. She decided it was a nice addition to the wine,
adding character. The judge to Evan's right was offended to the point of
near-insanity. "Brett is a FLAW," the judge declared. "And a flawed wine
wins no medal." The other
judge persisted, arguing that it should be a gold medal wine. Evan thought he was about to witness a fistfight.

How can
you or anyone else tell a judge how to evaluate wines? The beauty of wines is that we
have the opportunity to decide for ourselves what makes a wine special.
Now, that's not to say that there aren't clearly discernible qualities
and flaws. But if I love oak and over-extraction in, say, cabernet sauvignon, and you appreciate a more restrained approach, which one of
us is right? If I think the best wines are indicative of where they were
made, whereas you believe the best wines are hedonistic missiles,
place-be-damned, who's correct?

If you sit in
on a judge's panel at just about any wine competition, get ready to hear
the same conversations. And then ask yourself how anyone can possibly
hand out medals when it's over, as if one wine correctly identified that
7x4=28.

The second problem with judging:
Blind tasting

Everyone on the NYCR team has come to love blind
tasting. It is great fun. It is also a bit like a sporting event or game, not befitting the
anointing of medals that ostensibly carry serious value.

There
is perhaps no wine more fitting to explain this problem than Finger
Lakes riesling. The best winemakers in the Finger Lakes often remind
their customers that riesling is a "food wine." It certainly is. It is
versatile, ranging from dry to sweet, and pairs harmoniously with a
range of dishes. Winemakers have such things in mind when crafting their
products. But they are not producing rieslings designed to impress judges in sterile, blind-tasting settings.

Now try to imagine tasting dozens
and dozens of these wines with hardly a bite to eat. The acids are
ripping at your mouth, and in the sweeter flights the sugars seem like a
welcome respite. In the cabernet flight, there is no juicy steak to
accompany a rich wine, and the judges
are left to consider them bereft of that partnering.

But
most importantly, blind judging robs the evaluators of the most
significant parts of the wine -- its context.

Tell a judge he's drinking
cabernet, and he'll immediately try to lock in and ascertain the country
of origin, then the region and perhaps sub-appellation. But the mind is
a funny thing. Instead of simply enjoying (or not) the wine, and
thinking about it individually, the judge begins to add context where
there is none provided. How did the other wines in the flight taste in
comparison? What might that say about this wine? When was the last time I
tasted a wine like this one? Where was it from? Should I allow myself
to believe this is Bordeaux, when I'll feel awfully silly when I'm told
it's from somewhere else?

Delving deeper, we
find that judging a wine that is simply known as cabernet sauvignon is
extremely constricting. We don't want
a Napa cab to taste like a Bordeaux. We expect Chile to turn out
something else entirely. If we're tasting a Bordeaux cabernet that tastes like
Napa, we're bound to be disappointed. But tasting blind, we might convince
myself it's from somewhere else, mistaking place and winemaker
intention. Whoops.

We've had judges tell us that we should forget about figuring out where a wine is from and simply
taste it to see if we like it. Fair enough. But in that one statement, we
see exactly why wine has become so homogeneous, so dangerously banal.
Judges are not required to give a damn about a wine's sense of place.

We find it vital. With no standard, how can we expect judging to be
consistent?

Ah, but see: It's not consistent.
Not even a little.

There is ample evidence
that judging is like throwing darts

When
Robert T. Hodgson set out to research the reliability of
judging, many of us suspected he would find that judging is
inconsistent. Instead, he found that medals are awarded in a fashion
that almost appears to be random. Hodgson wrote, "It is reasonable to
predict that any wine earning any medal could in another
competition earn any other medal, or none at all." Indeed, he found
hundreds of examples of wines that earned gold medals in one competition
and no medal at all in another.

Put another
way: If you make a competent wine, you can enter enough competitions and
that wine will almost certainly win gold eventually.

No
study is perfect, but we suspected that after this study was released,
drastic changes would hit the wine judging circuit. We have yet to see
any. Hodgson stated that his goal was to provide some measure of judging
reliability to help these competitions improve. We see the result being
supportive of the idea that these competitions
ought not exist at all. After all, judging in mass competitions is
putting wine into just about the least most suitable place for good
evaluation and enjoyment.

And for wineries
that might protest, it should be said that the little study that has
been done only indicates that tasting room customers really don't care
much about medals. Why should they? As we've already explained, they
don't know what the medals mean.

Clarity?
Consumers don't know which wineries entered a particular competition and
which didn't, they don't know the judges and what the judges are
looking for, they don't know how many medals were awarded, and they
don't know what a medal is supposed to signify.

That
should say everything.

Our decision, and
our call for others to join us

In the
future we will politely decline invitations to judge at
these events. That does not mean we won't participate in wine seminars,
conferences, etc. This is simply about mass judging. The
wine competition circuit has become quite an industry itself, but there
has to be a good explanation for the purpose it serves.

We ask our
colleagues to do one of two things: Pledge to join us in this decision,
or provide a suitable answer for the problems we've outlined above.
We're more than willing to listen, and to change our minds if it can be
proven that these competitions help the consumer.

If Long Island has merlot and the Finger Lakes have riesling, then the Niagara U.S.A. region just might have pinot noir.

It's of course way too early in this budding region's development to anoint any single grape as royalty, but Niagara pinot noir certainly shows promise. And just like every other New York wine region, differences in growing season conditions have a profound impact.

Vintage matters in New York.

It certainly did when I sat down to taste two vintages of estate pinot from Freedom Run Winery in Lockport, NY.

As you no-doubt already know, 2007 was a warm, dry year across the state and that shines through in this pinot.

Ripe blueberry and black cherry aromas lead the way on an extroverted nose with light mushroomy earthiness, exotic spice, and subtle cocoa powder notes in the background.

Mouth-filling and lush on the palate, a dense core of sweet blueberry-cherry fruit intermingles with notes of earth, exotic spice, milk chocolate and tobacco. The texture is beautiful here, silky with both powerful ripeness and elegance in the form of fine tannins and good acidity.

Double-blind I might think this from California if not for that lurking earthiness that really steps forward on the end of a lengthy finish.

Though listed at 13.5% ABV, this might be higher as there is a slight bit of heat on the end.

Tickets
are $35 and have been selling better than I ever expected. Your ticket includes a side-by
side tasting of two of my favorite -- and long sold out -- 2005
merlots: Roanoke Vineyards 2005 Merlot and Shinn Estate Vineyards 2005
Nine Barrels Merlot. We'll have cheeses and other nibbles from the
Village Cheese Shop in Mattituck and Shinn Estate co-owner and chef
David
Page will no
doubt add something tasty to the menu.

Throughout the event,
Roanoke's current releases will be
available by the the bottle and glass with 10% of all sales going to the
Angelman Syndrome Foundation.

Response from the New York wine and associated industries has been humbling with several wineries donating half and full cases of wine for our auction. Restaurants have donated gift certificates as well.

If you're a winery, brewery, restaurant or other
business and are
interested in donating something, please email me.

This is one of two collaboration beers between brewers Hans-Peter Drexler of legendary Bavarian brewery Schneider and Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver. The version with the Brooklyn label is widely available but I found a Schneider label bottle and had to try it.

The idea is that each brewed the same beer in the other brewer's brewery, but with different hopping to assert some terroir. Yup, I just dropped the T-word. It's not a New York beer per se, but it's a New York brewer and a pretty interesting concept.

This weiss pours a gorgeous cloudy tangerine color, with a luscious peach, orange and tangerine nose.

The head was a bit compromised since the bar, Cole's, does not offer wiessbier glasses, but still showed a delicate 2 fingers of citrusy bliss. Light elegant Noble hops are evident, and yeast aromas are more apparent towards the end of the bottle.

The palate explodes with a full burst of citrus fruit salad, with layers of fruit, hops and just the right amount of carbonation (American weiss biers tend to overdo it in this department, but Garrett Oliver nailed this one).

A pure pleasure to drink, and a fascinating example of the collaboration beer trend.

August 22, 2010

The famous opening line from Charles Dickens' classic "A Tale of Two Cities," set in 18th-century Europe, would appear to be an appropriate description of the opportunities and challenges currently facing wineries in the towns of Southold and Riverhead.

On the one hand, the outlook for the Long Island wine region has never been better. Our producers are now receiving the recognition they deserve for creating wines of exceptional quality. Important critics are routinely giving our products high ratings. Last year a coalition of the most prestigious wine regions in the world recruited Long Island to become the first and only region on the East Coast to join their alliance to protect the top geographical wine designations.

This growing acknowledgment of our region's new prominence in the wine world would normally be a cause for local pride and celebration, but it is clear that not everyone shares the enthusiasm. Unfortunately, there is now growing pressure for Southold and Riverhead towns to adopt new rules that would severely restrict winery events, removing a crucial source of revenue, particularly in the current economic climate.

Because of the scale and cost of wine production on Long Island, tasting room sales are critical to the survival of our local industry. Although some producers are successfully generating wholesale business around the metropolitan area and building direct shipping revenue through such means as wine clubs, tasting room sales still account for a significant percentage of a producer's revenue. Over the past two years, the ratio may have become even more pronounced as wineries' restaurant sales suffered during the recession while tourism to the region continued to grow.

Clearly, direct marketing activities -- both public and private -- at local wineries have helped spur tourism on the North Fork. However, the rising number and variety of events have raised questions about whether certain activities should be allowed, and if they should, under what circumstances. Some people have suggested that wineries are moving beyond their original agricultural focus to become shadow restaurants, catering halls, concert venues, etc. They also argue that since wineries benefit from agricultural tax exemptions, they are competing unfairly with non-agricultural businesses that offer similar services.

Both claims are wrong.

New York State understands that small farms, including vineyards, need to be able to engage in direct marketing activities to help generate product sales. These practices are promoted and protected in several sections of New York State's Agriculture and Markets Law. The interpretation of what constitutes direct marketing and agri-tourism is both broad and open-ended, as long as farm product sales remain the primary objective. Moreover, certain activities, such as serving food to complement wine tastings, are expressly permitted under the State's Alcoholic Beverage Control Law .

The contention that wineries are somehow not paying their fair share of taxes is also false. Notwithstanding the fact that wine is the only agricultural product subject to excise taxes, it is true that vineyard owners, like farmers of any other crops, can apply for annual exemptions on land in active agricultural production. All farmers can also receive a 10-year exemption on new farm structures, such as barns. But the land and buildings used for winery facilities and tasting rooms, where the controversial agri-tourism activities generally take place, do not receive any favorable tax treatment. Indeed, the Southold assessor's office recently confirmed that not only are Southold wineries subject to the same rules on winery and tasting room buildings as govern any other business, but wineries also pay more -- in some cases substantially more -- than local businesses that are claiming unfair competition.

The trend toward small-scale artisanal processing of local crops and the growing popularity of agri-tourism have had a major impact on the viability of farming on the East End and certainly on the overall economy of the North Fork. Rather than deal a potentially devastating blow to the viability of our newly prominent wine region by restricting direct marketing activities, Southold and Riverhead towns should welcome and encourage such activities by adopting clear policies that enable local farm operations to adapt effectively to economic circumstances and respond to market demands.

Editor's Note: This piece ran as an op-ed in the 8/19 issue of Suffolk Times.

August 20, 2010

Blue Point Brewing Company, creators of multi-award-winning Toasted Lager, has responded to the Gulf oil spill disaster the best way they know how: by crafting a beer dedicated to our feathered friends affected by the crisis. It's been dubbed Toxic Sludge, and the proceeds from its sale will support the Delaware-based bird rescue organization Tri-State Bird Research and Rescue.

The spill, caused by an explosion on April 20 of this year, has widely affected wildlife, but Blue Point president Pete Cotter explains his particular sympathy for the plight of Gulf area birds. "We on the South shore of Long Island see many birds in the spring and fall, just cruising through. I live on a small body of water and have the pleasure of sharing their experience with them."

Autumn is fast approaching, and birds migrating south for the winter will face a rude awakening when they find their sunny winter home covered in, well, toxic sludge. 100% of funds raised by the sale of this beer will support Tri-State's bird rescue campaigns now and in the coming years.

So what exactly does Toxic Sludge taste like? For starters, it's a black IPA, an up-and-coming style attempted as of yet by only a handful of well-known breweries. "It’s basically similar to a traditional IPA with a dark malt bill," explains Cotter. "The beer is now in the tank. What we’re looking for is a fragrant, dark, hoppy ale without the sweetness that you would associate with a dark beer. This dark version of an IPA should satisfy the inquisitive pallets of hopheads."

Cotter hopes to send Toxic Sludge to all twelve states in which the brewery has distribution.

Blue Point's critical success and widespread appeal make the brewery's voice a powerful one, and this project is sure to promote awareness of the spill's environmental ramifications. "I’m just glad we are fortunate and successful enough to be able to do fun projects like this," Cotter says. "Since winning some big awards a few years ago, we’ve been growing at a fairly good clip and it’s easy to get sidetracked to what’s really important. We have no corporate ties and I think that’s apparent with this project."

Look for Toxic Sludge just in time for migration season - it's another great reason to drink beer. For more information about this project visit bptoxicsludge.com.

August 19, 2010

A key tenet of biodynamics is the influence of celestial bodies (e.g., the sun, moon, and planets) on agriculture. While no one will deny the influence of the sun, it's not clear exactly what the moon might be doing to affect grapegrowing and winemaking.

Take the case of Aleš Kristančič of Movia in Slovenia. Thanks to glowing reviews and a high-profile section of Sergio Esposito's book Passon On the Vine, Movia has gained cult status for wine consumers. Kristančič is a very popular speaker around the world and is consulted often for his views on biodynamic winemaking. He makes a wine called "Lunar", farmed with biodynamic methods and bottled on the full moon. His explanation:

Flying stones. The "minerals" in the wine, which are somehow visible under a microscope, are lifted from the sediment by the gravitational force of the moon. It's not uncommon to hear biodynamic winemakers reference lunar cycles when deciding when to rack or bottle wine.

The Nature of Gravity

I think it might be prudent here to clear up some misconceptions about gravity. The force of gravity causes any two objects that have mass to accelerate towards each other. While its presence on Earth is obvious, gravity is actually the weakest of the fundamental forces, about 10-37 times weaker than the electromagnetic force, for example. It also gets weaker with the square of the distance (i.e., objects twice as far away will exert four times less gravitational force on one another). The earth is so massive, though, that when it attracts your face to the pavement, it still hurts like heck.

As I mentioned, everything with mass has gravity. The nearest massive object with enough mass to have non-negligible gravity is, of course, the Moon. The Moon is approximately 1/80th the mass of Earth (which is still pretty massive), but it is also about 220,000 miles away from us. However, the effect of the Moon's gravity is still evident in the rising and falling of ocean tides.

Gravitationally speaking, there's really no difference between the new moon and the full moon. In both cases, the sun and moon are aligned, contributing the largest total gravitational pull (even though the Sun's is about 50% of the Moon's). For all intents and purposes, the gravitational effect of the moon on the Earth is identical on the new moon and on the full moon.

Tidal changes in the ocean are observed (1) because the ocean is enormous and (2) because solid material, while affected by the gravitational force in the same way, does not get pulled around in a significant way. Indeed, the Earth's crust is affected by the Moon's gravitational pull, just not enough to be noticeable.

Let's put some numbers behind this. The acceleration due to the gravity of the moon (at the perigee, when the moon is closest to the earth) is approximately 1.34 x 10-7 times g the Earth's gravitational acceleration. The force generated by the moon that opposes the Earth's gravity is one ten-millionth the force of the gravity of Earth.

To put this into perspective, the gravitational acceleration in New York City vs. Los Angeles differs by about 0.06%, which is about 6,000 times more than the tidal difference in gravity.

Gravity affects every object with mass, not just water. And it certainly doesn't discriminate between "minerals" and other sediment. Will your wine settle differently in LA than in NY? Yes, but the moon will have very little to do with it.

As for racking and bottling, while there may be a slightly different gravitational effect on a quarter moon (neap tide) than a full or new moon (spring tide), is it more likely that this infinitesimal effect will change the sedimentation profile of the wine, or that it will be affected by flow or shape of the tank or bumping of the lees with the racking wand or seismic disturbances or any other more terrestrial factors?

August 18, 2010

The 2010 Governor's Cup award did not go to a Long Island red, or a Finger Lakes riesling. It went to a sparkling riesling, and a sweet one at that.

For the second time in three years, Swedish Hill Winery has captured the Governor's Cup. Organized by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, the judging brings writers and industry professionals to Watkins Glen. They taste more than 800 wines.

The Governor's Cup is the single most powerful award given to a New York wine. That's because it instantly sells wine. More than a big magazine or a New York Cork Report review, this award can guarantee a sell-out.

And that's why it's so important that the judges get it right.

What is the winning wine, exactly?

Swedish Hill winemaker Ian Barry told me that the Riesling Cuvee is labeled non-vintage, but all of the fruit came from 2009. It was grown in the Caywood Vineyard run by Doyle, which is the largest vineyard acreage holder in the region. Even though this riesling was picked during the last week of October, it still checked in slightly below 18 brix. Barry thought that made it ideal for a sparkling wine, and he made 364 cases, with bottles selling for $17. (The price won't change with the award, but customers won't be allowed to purchase more than one.)

"I think riesling works really well as a sparkling wine base and is a natural fit," Barry said, citing its high acidity and fruit profile. "I've had some pretty amazing sekts from Germany that have always made me wonder why more people didn't make this style."

The Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvee is sweet; Barry fermented it dry and then back-sweetened to 3.5 residual sugar. But he finds customers thinking it's more dry, given the natural snap of acid.

Is this the kind of wine that should win the Governor's Cup?

Barry thinks so. When asked if the Cup should always go to a Finger Lakes riesling or a Long Island red, he replied, "I really don't think that's fair. I know there is an advantage to building the reputation of these two grapes as the signature varieties for their respective areas, but in truth there are lots of great wines being made in New York from lots of different varieties."

Then he added, "I wouldn't be surprised if a pinot noir or a chardonnay or even a traminette won it."

A wave of industry leaders rushed to congratulate Barry and Swedish Hill. "It is encouraging to see that the judges for the Classic were so supportive of a wine that is not widely known or produced in the Finger Lakes," wrote Bob Madill of Sheldrake Point Vineyard, who described the Governor's Cup wine as lightly sweet and pleasant.

"I think it can work," said Aaron Roisen, winemaker at Hosmer winery on Cayuga Lake. "Obviously Ian knows how to sort it out. I think a sparkling wine made from the region's top variety shows the range of quality and intricacies that grape has to offer."

"It must be quite a delicious bubbly," said Charles Massoud, owner of Paumanok on Long Island. "Though I have yet to see the results, I congratulate the winery that won."

Jim Silver of Peconic Bay on Long Island, a long-time advocate for a strong statewide focus on the top vinifera, chose to focus on the strength of the judging. "The judges are a talented lot who know their stuff," he said. "I'm looking forward to trying the wine myself." He added that the award is "probably well deserved."

But some other winemakers who asked to remain anonymous told me this award is a negative for a state trying to carve out a reputation in other areas.

"I just hope writers and consumers in other states don't see this and laugh," one winemaker told me. "A sweet sparkling riesling from a region trying to promote itself as world class. Doesn't quite add up, does it?"

Barry believes this award validates the top quality of riesling as a sparkling wine. "In any reputable competition, the truly good wines will always finish near the top and the truly crappy wines will not get awards." Unfortunately, this has been proven by recent study to be incorrect. In fact, this rather exhaustive look at high-level wine competitions shows that a gold medal wine will very often receive no medal at all in other similar competitions.

That's not to say that the Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvee is undeserving. But it is to point out that if the same judges gathered next week to taste the same wines, they'd almost certainly pick different winners in every single category.

Will other Finger Lakes producers follow suit?

In a short survey of Finger Lakes wineries in the past 24 hours, the answer appears to be: No. Some wineries already produce a sparkling riesling; each August the revelers at McGregor's Clan Club Picnic dance to the sounds of Forever in Blue Jeans re-written to say "Spark-a-ling Riesling." Dr. Frank has produced a sparkling riesling for two decades.

Other producers have already expanded their sparkling production with other grapes. "We are back in the sparkling business after a 15-year hiatus," said Scott Osborn of Fox Run Vineyards. "We just released a Blanc de Blanc made from chardonnay."

But certainly Swedish Hill will sell out of their Riesling Cuvee and keep the program going.

As for the competition, you might recall that Lenn and I wrote our prescription for fixing some of its ills last year. The points made in that post are still relevant today, and you can read it by clicking here. We'll have more to say soon regarding large judging competitions. In the meantime, we look forward to opening a bottle of the Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvee, and we congratulate Ian Barry and the staff. They have seen the tense days of harvest and the long nights throughout the season pay off.

August 17, 2010

My wife and I had lunch at the Village Tavern in Hammondsport on Tuesday, and we encountered a mind-bending wine list.

The Tavern is well known for its long selection of aged Finger Lakes wines. Lenn and I have both written about it in the past. The good news is that the Tavern has ideal storage and a staff that pledges to taste the wines periodically to make sure they're still showing well.

But this most recent visit revealed an even longer - and frankly, more bizarre - list than I remember seeing at the Tavern.

Start with the by-the-glass list. The Tavern was pouring Glenora 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dr. Frank 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon, and Fox Run 1997 Lemberger by the glass! And that's just the start. My wife ordered a Hermann J. Wiemer 2003 Dry Rose that was, sadly, extremely tired. I tried the '97 Lemberger and also found it sluggish and muted, but not at all oxidized. It defines the notion that wine can hang on with age if not necessarily improve. However, a glass of Chateau Lafayette-Reneau 2002 Riesling was wonderful and fresh.

Then we turned to the bottle list.

The list of eye-raising old wines is too long to lay out fully in this space, but I'll list the most confounding:

That last wine is a Tom Mansell special. Hey Science Ed, will you go try out that Vincent in the name of research?

I'm not saying these wines are all dead. But the track record of Marechal Foch or Vincent or Finger Lakes Petite Sirah might not lead most experts to expect much out of them. I hope I'm wrong. The Tavern is always a treat, thanks to this quirky list that seems to grow ever quirkier with age - perhaps like a fine Finger Lakes Foch.

It's always enlightening to compare, and this was a nice little linear comparison: Cabernet Franc from its sweet spot in France and Cabernet Franc from one of the strongest Finger Lakes producers in a very good vintage.

Unfortunately, the Bourguiel suffered from some storage issues (we assume) and was prematurely tired. But the Red Newt showed beautifully, with our guests showing genuine surprise when it was finally revealed as a Finger Lakes red. I wouldn't say it's highly indicative of place, but not many Cab Francs from the Finger Lakes are showing a regional character. That will come with more time. This is simply a modern style red with impressive texture and length. It was one of the wines of the night at our dinner party.

We'll revisit the Loire Valley on another occasion soon. That's never a bad idea.

Bryan Calandrelli: Movia Sauvignon 2007

When I saw this bottle behind the bar at Just Vino in Buffalo I immediately knew my long drive into the city was warranted. I didn¹t see it on their list of over 80 wines by the glass but luckily I¹d recognize that label from a distance.

Intense golden color with aromas of pine resin, apricot, citrus, lavender and honey. It¹s crisp on the palate yet still full, smooth and seamless. The oxidative quality that comes with this wine is totally in balance and seems to work in its favor.

It¹s amazing how much I think I dislike oaked whites, oxidative wines or whites with prolonged skin contact until I taste wines like this. When it¹s done well they can be transformative to the wine drinker.

Sherry is one of the greatest beverages on the planet. And when it comes together with great spirits, it can be mind-bogglingly good.

This weekend, my wife and I popped into Clover Club in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. As usual, I insisted we sit at the bar so I could watch the mixologists at work and get a look at their "gear" - they've got an array of bitters, juices and liqueurs all lined up in tiny glass bottles like battle-ready ninjas. (In all honesty, I'm very annoying to sit with in times like these because every time a cocktail is being made, my attention wanes and I become like a kid at the zoo transfixed by the Monkey House).

For the Carabinieri, I was amazed by the integration of such diverse ingredients. I mean, Sherry and Tequila? Cynar (a bitter, artichoke-based liqueur)? Wow, what a line-up and the fact that they found harmony was beautiful. The aroma was hypnotic: a blend of nuttiness and sea air with a rich, plummy center that hit me square in the kisser. On the palate, it was a virtual receiving line as each ingredient had its fair shake. Starting with the rich, oxidized notes of the Palo Cortado, it melded into the citrusy Agave notes of the Reposado and finished with a bitter zip from the Cynar that left my mouth stunned at what had transpired.

As Americans, we often shy away from bitter drinks, but the Italians have it right. Bitterness is a beautiful thing when embraced. There is a whole world of sensations and spirits awaiting those who venture into its domain.

Not all that many have hit tasting room lists or store shelves yet, but if the early returns are any indication, 2009 may prove another great year for Finger Lakes riesling.

Swedish Hill Winery winemaker Ian Barry makes a lot of wines. When we stopped there last month to taste, I was shocked at just how many wines were on the tasting sheet -- at least 30. Throw in the fact that he makes the wines for Penguin Bay Winery and Goosewatch Winery and he's one busy man come harvest time (and the rest of the year.)

Swedish Hill Winery 2009 Dry Riesling ($16) very well may be the best wine I've tasted from Swedish Hill.

August 16, 2010

Two weeks ago the Niagara Wine Trail hosted its second annual Niagara Wine and Culianry Festival at Artpark in Lewiston, NY, welcoming close to 1,100 guests to taste local wine and eat local food during a weekend that saw perfect weather. In its second year, the event drew twice as many people as its first.

I had an insider’s look at this year’s festival as I spent all day Sunday pouring wine and schmoozing with food vendors. Having just participated in the much larger Finger Lakes Wine Festival I was impressed at how coordinated the Niagara event was despite its youth and small size.

Honestly, when I first heard of the event and its tie into the monthly wine trail event schedule I didn’t know what to expect. Even though I’m not a fan of the monthly themed events hosted by the trail, they really do get people in the doors and sell wine -- despite all the commotion that comes with giveaways, costumes and entertainment. Why put all the wineries in one outdoor festival space when you already have a loyal following that packs into cars, trucks and buses to get to the wineries once a month? When that outdoor venue is Artpark, however, it starts to make sense.

Located on the Niagara River (literally) a stone's throw from Canada, Artpark is a cultural gem that has been hosting camps, theater companies, live music and organizations such as the Buffalo Philharmonic for years. Since the wine trail is still in the crawling period of its evolution, it still hasn’t worked its way into the collective subconscious of Western New York, especially the Buffalo area. The festival’s association with Artpark enables it to reach an appreciative, city-centric public that hasn’t quite been convinced to drive out to Niagara County’s rural areas for local wine.

In its first iteration, the festival didn’t exactly get a ton of promotion from the venue. “They didn’t know what to make of us,” explained one winery owner. But after a calm weekend of wine tasting and music, the plans for this year’s event were bigger and better.

Wendy Oakes Wilson of Leonard Oakes Winery saw the difference. “Anytime you have a year's planning under your belt, you’re bound to have a well-planned event,” she said. “Because we purposely kept things small, we are learning on the fly without stressing the organizers out too much.”

The venue handled the music and entertainment and the Niagara Wine Trail was behind the marketing and setup. Promotions included print literature, radio spots and television commercials along with the online promotions. With the press being so widespread it’s Wilson’s view that some wineries from other parts of the state will want to take part next year. They also hope to see more food vendors and more tent real estate to spread it out while keeping everyone under cover just in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.

The wineries appeared to be selling more than enough wine to make it worth participating. The crowd was much more serious and curious than what makes it out to your average winery-hopping wine trail event, and most importantly, it wasn’t the same old event crowd that I recognize once a month in the tasting rooms.

Anytime the wineries can associate themselves with people who support the local arts scene, they are likely to pick up loyal customers with experienced palates and expendable income. Indeed, says Wilson: “Great wine, live music, culinary delights and the beauty of Artpark -- does it get any better than that?”

Channing Daughters Winery 2008 "Clones" ($29): Nose shows roasted pears and apples with spice and just a little lemon verbena. Plump and fruity on the attack, with tree fruit and spice. Gets a bit creamy on the mid-palate with a little vanilla. A little bitterness on the finish (from the gewurtz?) with nice acidity to balance the wine's heft/richness. Oak is understated and well-integrated. Rating: 85

Heron Hill Winery 2007 Ingle Vineyard Riesling ($15): Expressive nose of lemon-lime with petrol and subtle minty-herbal character. More lemon-lime on the palate, joined by apple and subtle herbs. Tastes mostly dry with good length, but finishes with a little sweet richness. More acid would bring focus and verve. Seems like a 'drink now' wine. Rating: 84

Roanoke Vineyards 2009 De Rosa Rose ($16): Wild strawberry, raspberry and a subtle savory herb edge on the nose with some peachy/passionfruit notes as it warms. Strawberries on the palate with peach and a little citrus -- orange and grapefruit, on a richer but well-balanced palate. The acidity is well-integrated and the finish is fresh and citrusy. Rating: 86

Vineyard 48 2008 Chardonnay ($17): All steel. Ripe apple and citrus on the nose with a little nutty lees richness. Fruity on the palate with straightforward apple flavors, a creamy mid-palate and a little melon that steps forward on the medium-short finish. Rating: 82